Less than a week away from their long awaited kickoff, the University of Hawaii football enjoyed their final day off before take off as the Rainbow Warriors will open the 2017 season this Saturday at UMass.

A big reason why Warrior fans are so excited about Head Coach Nick Rolovich’s second year on the sideline is that more than 30 players with starting experience will hit the field this upcoming weekend.

However, one of the rare newcomers expected to own top spot on the depth chart is at cornerback. Junior college transfer Manu Hudson-Rasmussen has been considered by many as the offseason surprise for the home team, making countless big plays in training camp after a solid showing this past spring.

Manu Hudson-Rasmussen

“The thing with Manu is that he is so quick. He’s got cat like quick ability. For me, in terms of our standards our expectations is that everyone should exceed the expectations. In terms of what he’s been able to do in terms of coming from junior college and learn this defense, yes he has exceeded our expectations as a whole group. Me personally? That’s the Manu that I saw on film when I watched him and we evaluated him as a staff. We knew he could be this kind of player” said defensive backs coach Abraham Elimimian.

“I didn’t come in trying to do anything out of the ordinary but this summer I was going through an injury so it was kind of going through my mind of you know, just stay consistent and not worry too much. Just get the playbook and do what you can, so I just try to stay consistent everyday and came out here when I was healthy and put in the work” said Hudson-Rasmussen.

With deep roots to the 808 the Oregon native and cousin of 2016 Rainbow Warrior captain and defensive tackle Kory Rasmussen is poised to play for much more than the University.

“Yeah, I got all my family out here. It does kind of weigh on me but like I said I can’t play outside myself but there is that thought in the back of my head that I got to play more. More harder.”

Hudson-Rasmussen is anticipated to play opposite Roe Farris at corner with Daniel Lewis and Trayvon Henderson at the safety positions.

“I can feel it in my stomach but you just got to stay calm and trust in the coaches, trust in the game plan and trust in your teammates and everything will take care of itself” said Hudson-Rasmussen.

Kickoff between the ‘Bows and Minutemen is set for Saturday at 12pm HST televised free of charge on the Spectrum Sports PPV channel 1257 HD & 257 SD.